Embroidery digitizing: what your vector needs to look like.
A common misunderstanding: people send us logos and ask for "embroidery files." We send back vectors — clean paths, named layers, stitch notes. The actual digitizing (DST, EMB, PES files) happens in your digitizing software with a real digitizer at the wheel. What we deliver is the bridge between artwork and digitizing.
Why digitizers ask for vectors
Auto-trace pulls 200 anchor points out of a single letterform. A digitizer trying to digitize that path will fight every micro-segment. Clean vector paths — closed, minimal anchors, no stray points — let the digitizing software make smart decisions about underlay, stitch direction, and density.
Minimum path geometry
Every path closed. No open endpoints. No paths thinner than 1mm at install size — those will not stitch cleanly at any density. We flag thin areas and either thicken them or break them into separate filled zones.
Density zones
A logo with both fine text and large fill areas needs density zones. Fine detail gets 0.30mm density (denser stitches, tighter coverage). Large fills get 0.45mm density (less thread, faster stitch-out). We separate these onto named layers so the digitizer can set them right.
Pull compensation
Fabric pulls when the needle goes in. A 5mm circle stitched on stretchy fabric ends up as a 4.8mm oval. We expand paths 0.5pt by default to compensate. Heavier compensation for fleece, lighter for twill.
Thread call-outs
Every color zone is named with its thread number — Madeira Polyneon 1682, Isacord 1956. Your digitizer plugs that directly into the digitizing software and the thread chart loads automatically.
What we do not do
We do not produce DST, EMB, or PES files. We do not set stitch count, underlay type, or sequence. Those are digitizer decisions, made in digitizing software, by people who run the machine. See embroidery service →
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